Postseason basketball has arrived, and Arizona State (13-18, 4-16 Big 12) will partake in its first-ever Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, beginning Mar 11. The maroon and gold enter the event as the No. 15 seed after finishing second-to-last in conference play. Their opponent is No.10-seeded Kansas State (15-16, 9-11).
Both teams are participating on the tournament’s opening day, meaning the victor could play as many as five games in five days. With 16 programs in the bracket, the bottom eight will all face off Tuesday. The winner between the Sun Devils and Wildcats is positioned in a quadrant with No. 7 seed Baylor awaiting on Wednesday. The winner of Wednesday’s matchup will keep its momentum going on Thursday with a face against No. 2 seed Texas Tech.
The Red Raiders solidified themselves as the second-place team in the conference Saturday night with a win against ASU in Tempe. The AP No.9 program dominated the second half at Desert Financial Arena, outscoring the Sun Devils by 24 points. The Sun Devils played without five-star freshman forward Jayden Quaintance, who is projected to miss the remainder of the season with a right knee injury, according to head coach Bobby Hurley.
“Jayden wasn’t ready, and I don’t think he’s going to be ready by Tuesday,” Hurley said Saturday. “I wouldn’t expect him to play in Kansas City.”
In the 85-57 defeat Saturday night, ASU held its senior night despite playing without senior guards BJ Freeman, who was dismissed from the program for detrimental conduct on Feb 23, and Adam Miller, who remained out with multiple injuries. Miller did not suit up against Texas Tech, but Hurley is eager for one of the team’s integral pieces to return ahead of the Kansas State matchup.
“My guess is Adam is going to play in the Big 12 Tournament,” Hurley said. “He had the hip pointer, and then, unfortunately, he strained his oblique when he came back in the first moments of the Arizona game. We couldn’t risk bringing him here [Saturday] … but we’re just going to look at him every day, and he’s got to show me, particularly by Monday, that he’s moving in a normal way.”
The last time out for ASU against the Wildcats was the first game following Freeman’s dismissal. Despite his absence, ASU earned its sole win in its last 11 contests of the season, coming out with a 66-54 victory.
Quaintance led the team in scoring with 18 points. Besides the 17-year-old, notable performances came from freshman forward Amier Ali, who compiled 11 points, and junior center Shawn Phillips Jr., who recorded 10 points and 11 rebounds en route to the road victory.
Kansas State's performance was mediocre by its standards. The 54-point outing is tied for the fewest points scored in a conference game this season, as the team shot just 33.2% from the field and 19.2% from beyond the arc.
The leading scorer for the Wildcats in that game was senior forward David N’Guessan, who produced 20 points on the night and combined that with 13 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks—a statement performance from the team’s leading scorer, who averaged a team-high 13.3 points over 31 regular-season games. He leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage by a wide margin, converting 63.8% of his shots, making him a consistent force in the paint that few teams have managed to contain.
Despite ASU’s previous victory over its upcoming opponent, the teams also faced off earlier in the season, with Kansas State earning a 71-70 win in Tempe on Feb 4; that game came down to the wire. With nearly no time on the clock, Quaintance had an opportunity to tie or win the game with two free throws. The freshman missed both shots at the line, and ASU left the game with its fifth straight loss at Desert Financial Arena.
The Sun Devils’ home losing streak didn’t end after the Kansas State loss. They failed to win another game at home for the remainder of the season, setting a program record with nine straight defeats at DFA.
The lack of available talent made the end of the season a tumultuous one for Hurley and the team. However, the growth of freshmen, including Ali, five-star guard Joson Sanon, and midseason acquisition Trevor Best, gives the team an interesting edge if Miller returns, which he is expected to do today.
From the Wildcats’ perspective, their season proved to be challenging as well. They ended conference play with a losing record. However, key wins over AP No. 24 Arizona, Kansas, and AP No. 10 Iowa State showed the league that the Wildcats can compete with and defeat any team in conference play.
Outside of N’Guessan, key pieces on head coach Jerome Tang’s roster include junior guard Dug McDaniel, a Washington, D.C., native who averages 11.3 points and a team-high 4.9 assists per game. Despite his 5-foot-11 height, the former Michigan player has been effective in multiple areas. 6-foot-10 Coleman Hawkins is expected to play tonight, and that is a huge boost for the Wildcats as he averages 10.4 ppg 6.9 rpg, and 4.5 apg.
He set season highs in minutes (39) and rebounds (8) against the Sun Devils in their previous matchups, though he has struggled offensively, scoring just 11 points on 5-of-22 shooting combined through both contests.
Junior sharpshooter Brendan Hausen is a name to watch on Tuesday night. The former Villanova Wildcat has been a lights-out shooter and off-ball scoring option for Kansas State. He is averaging 11.2 points per game while knocking down 38.8% of his three-point attempts. His 2.8 three-pointers made per game ranks third in the conference, and in two games against ASU, he has hit 6 of 15 shots from deep.
The Sun Devils’ season has veered far from what Hurley and the program anticipated when they secured three freshmen ranked in the top 50 of the 2024 recruiting class. While the Big 12 was expected to present challenges, injuries and a lack of execution in close contests have created a laborious path to a conference championship.
Fortunately for ASU, if the No. 15 seed could have selected any first-round opponent, it likely would have chosen the one team it managed to beat in its last 11 games. The end of the regular season was a struggle for Hurley’s squad, but heading into Tuesday, its circumstances are as favorable as it could have hoped for.
The game will air at 4 p.m. Arizona time on ESPN+.
Join your fellow Sun Devil fans on our premium message board, the Devils’ Huddle, run by the longest-tenured Sun Devil sports beat writer, to discuss this article and other ASU football, basketball, and recruiting topics. Not a member yet? Sign up today and get your daily fix of Sun Devil news!
